Demonstration, or "benchmark" lessons are typically teacher-led and focused on particular science concepts. They should use relevant phenomena and appropriate representations to help students relate new concepts to what they already know. Lessons should also include formative assessment strategies the teacher can use to gauge student understanding.
As I read these and apply my rubric , the scores seem low. Feel free to revise your lesson based on my feedback. My apology for not giving you the rubric beforehand and causing you anxiety (I hate it when teachers do this), but this semester I am building the plane as it is going down the runway.
Some general feedback: After thinking about your learning goal, you should try to write out some learning performances that express what you think students should be able to do with the concepts that you are going to teach them. Instead of using verbs like "understand," you should decide on some low performances (explain) and some more challenging performances (create and apply a model of xxxxxxx to explain xxxxxx.) Once you have these performances, then they should guide your activities. What do students need to do in order to meet your performance expectations?
When you think of how you will introduce your topic, put yourself in the place of your most obstinate and cynical student. Your goal is to convince him or her that what you're asking them do is interesting and worthwhile. Always ask them questions that help them relate their lives with your topic. Follow up with a question that would be interesting to know the answer to and let it hang. Today we'll learn about xxxxxx which will help us address this question. You should also make clear what the instructional goal for the day is. (Write this on the board!)
For each activity in the period, you should provide a rationale them about why they are doing the activity and how it relates to them using the concept at hand.
When you conclude your lesson, you should return to your opening. Can you answer your hanging question?
If I have already graded your lesson when you complete your revisions, make a note next to mine on this list so that I know to regrade it, e.g. "Revised"
As I read these and apply my rubric , the scores seem low. Feel free to revise your lesson based on my feedback. My apology for not giving you the rubric beforehand and causing you anxiety (I hate it when teachers do this), but this semester I am building the plane as it is going down the runway.
Some general feedback: After thinking about your learning goal, you should try to write out some learning performances that express what you think students should be able to do with the concepts that you are going to teach them. Instead of using verbs like "understand," you should decide on some low performances (explain) and some more challenging performances (create and apply a model of xxxxxxx to explain xxxxxx.) Once you have these performances, then they should guide your activities. What do students need to do in order to meet your performance expectations?
When you think of how you will introduce your topic, put yourself in the place of your most obstinate and cynical student. Your goal is to convince him or her that what you're asking them do is interesting and worthwhile. Always ask them questions that help them relate their lives with your topic. Follow up with a question that would be interesting to know the answer to and let it hang. Today we'll learn about xxxxxx which will help us address this question. You should also make clear what the instructional goal for the day is. (Write this on the board!)
For each activity in the period, you should provide a rationale them about why they are doing the activity and how it relates to them using the concept at hand.
When you conclude your lesson, you should return to your opening. Can you answer your hanging question?
If I have already graded your lesson when you complete your revisions, make a note next to mine on this list so that I know to regrade it, e.g. "Revised"
The Demonstration Lesson Assignment:
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